Eight Days
by doranobaka
Summary: There are eight days left till Rock Lee's sixteenth birthday, and Tenten is planning something special. Fluff, NejiTen, and LeeSaku result.


**A/N:** Wow. I'm writing even _more_ het fic. What's the world coming to? :D   
  
This is actually Riana1's fault. She mentioned that writing SakuLee fluff has a tendancy to make one feel better. So, I decided to put that to a test, and I'll be darned if she wasn't right. This was meant to be a one-shot drabble, but it sort of got out of hand. Like most of my fics... ::pointedly looks at several of the multi-chapter fics she's writing::   
  
No warnings. I guess it could be considered AU, at least for the manga continuity. But it's just a warm and fluffy and silly fic so that really doesn't matter. This bit is heavy on the NejiTen, but there will be SakuLee, too.   
  
As ever, constructive crits are much appreciated, and if you have a better idea for the title, please share.   
  
**Eight Days**  
by dora   
  
Eight days, seven hours, and fourteen minutes were left until Rock Lee's sixteenth birthday, and still Tenten had nothing to give him. Of course, neither did Neji, but she would've been surprised if he'd even thought about getting his semi-rival a present. She was sure that Naruto had forgotten-- he'd forget his _own_ birthday if it weren't for the fact that Iruka took him to get ramen every year.   
  
So, that left it up to her to find a great present for her teammate. There was really only one problem.   
  
What do you give to someone like Rock Lee? Off the top of her head, Tenten could only think of a few things he really wanted (to challenge Neji and beat him, to become the greatest taijutsu specialist the village has ever known, to go on a date with Haruno Sakura), all of which weren't really tangible things to be given.   
  
... Wait.   
  
Tenten went over Lee's fondest wishes in her head again, stopping on "a date with Haruno Sakura."   
  
"That's it!" she cried, hopping to her feet and garnering more than a few dirty looks from the other patrons of the restaurant, including the young man who sat across from her.   
  
"What's it?" Neji asked drily, arching an eyebrow at her.   
  
"Er..." A flush spread across Tenten's cheeks, and she quietly sat in her chair again. Her teammate continued to favor her with a non-plussed expression. "Well," she began slowly, "I've been thinking about some things lately." When he didn't reply, she continued. "Lee's birthday is coming up, and I'd feel guilty not getting him a gift. So I've been trying to think of something really special to give him, and I just figured out something that would be great if I could get it to work."   
  
Neji's expression darkened. "Why do I get the impression that I'm not going to like what you're about to say?"   
  
Tenten considered this question for a few moments, then grinned widely. "Because you probably aren't. But I _really_ need your help, Neji! I can't arrange a date with Sakura-san all by myself."   
  
It was hard for her to not giggle at Neji when he nearly choked on his drink. "You _what?!_"   
  
"I've decided that I'm going to set Lee up with a date with Sakura-san for his birthday," she said, still grinning. "But I'll need your help. I don't think I could talk Sakura-san into it myself."   
  
"And what makes you think I'll help?" Neji demanded, glaring.   
  
Again, Tenten considered his question. "Because you love me?" she replied, batting her eyelashes fetchingly in his direction, then leaning over and kissing him on the nose.   
  
Neji heaved a long-suffering sigh. "I think I understand why Shikamaru finds women so troublesome," he mumbled darkly. "Fine, fine. I'll help you."   
  
"Thank you!" exclaimed Tenten, leaning across the table to kiss him again.   
  
---   
  
Seven days, eleven hours, and twenty-one minutes were left until Rock Lee's sixteenth birthday. With Neji on her side, Tenten had formulated an elaborate, detailed plan to get Haruno Sakura to go on a date with Lee. Shortly thereafter, Neji had shot it down and proposed that, rather than try to be particularly stealthy and conspiratorial about it, they simply arrange a blind date between Sakura and an unnamed "admirer."   
  
"That's not nearly as fun," Tenten objected, pouting.   
  
"It's also not nearly as easy to mess up," Neji replied. The subject had been effectively closed.   
  
From there, all that had to be worked out were the details: would this take place before, after, or on the day of his birthday? Where would it be? What, exactly, would they tell Lee? And, most importantly, how in the world would they make Lee presentable?   
  
"I think it should be for his birthday dinner," Tenten said judiciously. "I'm not sure that Sakura-san knows when his birthday is, so it won't be a give-away. And if it turns out that she knows it's his birthday, we can change it to the evening before."   
  
"It should be somewhere with class," Neji added. "If we're going to all this trouble, we might as well make reservations for the best place in town."   
  
"But Lee doesn't have that much money!" Tenten cried.   
  
Through gritted teeth, Neji grumbled, "I'll pay for it. Just don't say a _word_ about it to anyone else. Ever."   
  
Tenten laughed and hugged him tightly around his waist. "I won't tell a soul. No one will ever know that you did something nice for your 'eternal rival' Rock Lee." She snickered at the disgusted expression that worked its way onto his face in response to that particular phrase. "So, what do we tell Lee? I mean, trying to use the blind date with an 'unnamed admirer' angle might make him really suspicious."   
  
Neji scowled, thinking. Finally, he said, "Why do we have to tell him anything? We can just say that we've planned something special for him at whatever time we decide on, make him get dressed up, and send him to the place we picked out."   
  
"With flowers," Tenten interjected.   
  
"Fine, with flowers. But you're getting those. Anyway, what in the world could we put Lee in to make him look good enough for a 'blind' date?"   
  
"Something that's _not_ green spandex," declared Tenten, making a face.   
  
"Does he even _have_ anything else?"   
  
Tenten shrugged. "I dunno, but I guess I'll find out. Just leave making him presentable to me! I'll pick out the flowers and his clothes, and you can convince Sakura-san to go on the date and make the reservations at the best restaurant in town."   
  
Neji sighed miserably. "Why did I let you talk me into this?"   
  
"Because you love me," was the reply, followed by Tenten kissing him very thoroughly.   
  
---   
  
Five days, seven hours, and thirty-four minutes were left until Rock Lee's sixteenth birthday. It took them a day to figure out exactly what Neji would tell Sakura; Tenten refused to let him lie to her outright, so they had to carefully pick which facts they would present and which they would conveniently leave out. The amount of information they swept under the rug was large enough to make Neji wonder how this was any different from fabricating something completely different, but he wisely kept his mouth shut on the subject.   
  
Once they'd worked everything out between them, Tenten sent her ever-so-long-suffering boyfriend to the Haruno residence. Sakura's mother seemed to find it very strange that someone like Neji would have any business with her daughter, but she wasted no time in inviting him in and calling Sakura into the den to sit with him.   
  
"Neji-san," Sakura said when she caught sight of the Hyuuga, "what in the world are you doing here?"   
  
"It's a long story," Neji replied. "I've come here to ask something of you at the request of a-- er, well, a 'friend,' I suppose." He heaved a heavy sigh, something he found himself doing quite often lately. "I was asked to invite you on a date, Haruno-san."   
  
The comically confused look on Sakura's face was almost worth all the hassle. "B-but, Neji-san, I never thought you..."   
  
"Not with _me,_" he snapped. "With an admirer of yours. Unfortunately, this admirer isn't too sure how you would react if he asked you personally, so I'm here to ask instead."   
  
Confusion gave way to mild suspicion. "This wouldn't be some creepy guy, would it?"   
  
Under normal circumstances, Neji would've answered, 'Yes, Rock Lee is very creepy,' but he knew that Tenten would probably exact some horrible revenge if he purposely botched this. So, he said coolly, "No, not at all. He's someone we both know and trust."   
  
Suspicion was replaced by excitement. "I know him? Who is he? What can you tell me about him?"   
  
Fortunately, Tenten had expected such questions, and Neji knew exactly how to respond. "Yes, you know him. I swore that I would not share his name. He's tall with dark hair and dark eyes." 'And freakish eyebrows and an obsession with green spandex,' he added mentally.   
  
As had been expected, this piqued Sakura's interest. "So a date with a tall, dark-haired, dark-eyed boy whom I know and trust... When? Where?"   
  
"The twenty-seventh, eight o'clock, at Morihime's, if that's agreeable to you," he said.   
  
Sakura gave this careful consideration. "Hmm. That should be just fine," she said finally. "Morihime's at eight o'clock it is."   
  
**TBC**


End file.
